Testing the Waters - You Too Can "Surf" the Internet
There are several different tools that can be used to navigate the internet. Choose which one you'd like to learn about. Click 'HOME' at the bottom of this page in order to reach the main page.
E-mail, which stands for electronic mail, is the most popular used tool on the Internet, and is probably the easiest to use. E-mail allows one to communicate with anybody who has an e-mail address. Regardless of where that person is, your message arrives at his computer mailbox within minutes. Often you can exchange numerous messages in a shorter period of time than it would take for one letter to get to its destination via the postal service, which net-goers have dubbed "snail-mail".
A user's address is made up of several parts. Let's analyze my address:
GM36@BTON.AC.UK
GM36- The part before the @ sign is either the persons real name, their log-in name, or a combination. In my case, it is my initials followed by 36which stands for my personal number at the institution.
BTON- This part is the group name for the all the computers connected at the specified organization.
AC- This tells the name of the company or organization the user is affiliated with.
UK- This designates which coountry the user is located at. In this case, United Kingdom.
Commands are either typed at a prompt or selected from a menu. Typically to activate your mailing program, type "mail" at the prompt. At the MAIL prompt type "read" to read your messages or "send" to send a message. If you type "send" you are prompted to type in the person's address. Then a subject line appears, which you can fill in or leave blank. After that, follow the directions for closing your message, and start typing. To send a file to someone, at the mail prompt type "send filename" and follow the above steps.
It's that simple! There are also commands to allow you to "extract" a message, do a "dir"ectory listing of your mail, "print" a message, or "del"ete a message. For a short-cut, after reading a message from somebody, type "reply" or "answer" and your message will be sent to the person who mailed you.
Other uses of e-mail are: getting electronic copies of books, subscribing
to electronic news services or journals, and searching databases.
USENET
Usenet stands for "User's Network." Usenet is exactly what its name implies; its a network of internet users. This tool allows people to partake in discussions groups with other Net-goers. There are thousand of topics to choose from. Crafts & hobbies, pets, fan clubs, science fiction, technical subjects, business related topics, to just name a few. Computers that participate in the Usenet are referred to as Usenet sites, and these sites number in the ten thousands. Articles are posted by people (through e-mail) and groups of these articles make up newsgroups. Newsgroups are free and there typically is not anybody monitoring the discussions.
Newsgroup names contain at least two parts that are separated by a period. The first part is the hierarchical category, the other parts describe the sub-categories. The following is a list of the most common hierarchical names:
* alt ----- Alternative newsgroup categories, often broken down into
various types of "alts."
* biz ----- Business discussions.
* comp ----- Topics relating to computers.
* misc ----- Anything that doesn't fit cleanly into one category.
* rec ----- Recreational topics: sports, hobbies, arts, pets.
* sci ----- Topics relating to any of the scientific fields.
* soc ----- Social issues: politics, societies, or social backgrounds.
* talk ----- Long, heated debates about controversial topics.
Subscribing to newsgroups is easy. Just read what the newsgroup is about and follow the directions. It gives you an e-mail address and tells you to write something like:
subscribe newsgroup name your e-mail address
end
It is recommended that you only subscribe to one or two at a time to see how many mailings you get. One can easily get bogged down with a lot of postings bombarding your computer! Another suggestion is to read what the other members of the newsgroups write before participating in any discussions yourself. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the style of writing and level of discussions of your chosen group. This is particularly important if you want to advertise or post a survey, may groups do not allow either, and doing so will resulted in getting "flamed"!
Flaming is what occurs when someone does not like what you've written. Aggravated readers will e-mail you harsh messages that SCREAM at you.
One of the largest Usenet sites I found is located at http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml.
It gives you the option to sort by letter or by subject. I choose to
"index by subject," selected "business," read the descriptions
of the newsgroups offered, and choose to subscribe to several.
GOPHER
Gopher is the utility that was designed and supported by the University of Minnesota and was named after their mascot, the gopher. The whole purpose of Gopher is to "go-fer" (for) things. Gopher is a navigational tool that has reduced almost everything to menus. This allows you to easily access Internet resources such as files, telnet sites, or WAIS databases. The resources listed in a Gopher menu can be located anywhere on the Internet. If an item is chosen that is not on the computer currently being used, this tool will connect itself to the proper computer. These connections are virtually invisible to users, and users often wonder at which state or even country they are in. This global collection of resources and information that Gopher has access to is called gopherspace.
The number of Gopher servers on the Internet number in the thousands, and is constantly growing. The growth rate of Gophers in 1993 was 997%. (The Internet Business Book, 1994.) Many universities, companies, and other organizations put up Gopher servers. These servers not only give a connection to explore gopherspace, but often contain relevant local news and interests.
To run Gopher, the typical command is to type "gopher" at the command prompt. This only works if your system supports a Gopher server. If not, you can telnet to a number of sites that offer Gopher servers for free public usage. Your cursor is represented by a right-pointing arrow. To navigate the menus, move the cursor by using the arrow keys on the keyboard. To move forward one page at a time, press the space bar. To go back one entire page, press b. Some gopher servers allow you to quickly move your cursor by typing in the number located to the left of each menu item. To select the item your cursor is at, use the right arrow or "enter" key. To quit, press the letter "Q" or "q". Typically the "?" or "h" keys will display a help menu containing a more complete listing of navigational keys.
There are characters located after each menu item. These characters tell you what type of command will be executed if you choose that item.
Character Meaning ------------------ --------------------------------------- [ . ] item leads to a single document [ / ] item leads to another menu [ ? ] item leads to a search facility [ TEL ] item Telnets to another server [ <) ] item leads to an audio file [ <PICTURE> ] item leads to a graphics/image file
Their are several search mechanisms that can be employed through Gopher. Archie was the first search system and was created by McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Archie scans a database containing information about the host addresses, directories, and names of files that are available on all of the anonymous FTP sites in the world. It automatically updates itself weekly.
To use this search tool, telnet to an archie server and login as "archie". Each site has slightly different options involving case sensitivity and connecting words with "and" or "or". Just follow the directions on the screen, and you're all set to start searching. Once you've found something you want to look at, you will have to use the FTP command.
Archie must have gotten lonely, because Veronica decided to join him! Veronica is another search tool that the developers say stand for "Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives." Veronica contains an index of menu items from most Gopher sites. This index is also updated weekly.
This search tool is often located under the menu item "Other Gophers"
or "Other Internet Resources and Services." If you cannot locate
Veronica through Gopher menus, you can Telnet to one of her sites. Searches
done with this application are case-insensitive and can be tailored to
do more complex searches. One of the better aspects of Veronica, is after
the results of her research is compiled, you can then access the listing
of files and menus as you normally do in Gopher. Knowing how to FTP is
not necessary.
FTP
FTP stands for file transfer protocol, and is part of TCP/IP protocols. FTP allows users to log into remote computers, explore their directories, and copy files to your own computer. While it does enable users to work interactively with other computer systems with an internet connection, there are limited commands to be used and limited areas that can be reached by anonymous FTP users.
There are thousands of computers on the Internet that have files available free to interested people. These files are publicly distributed documents, shareware, or freely-distributed software. FTP is generally used to get these files when three pieces of information is known:
This information is gathered either by searching gopherspace, being told by newsgroups, listed in reference books, or gathered from FTP index files. Once you have all of this information, you are ready to get the file.
At your prompt type: "ftp {site's address}[ENTER]. When prompted for a login name try either pressing [ENTER] once or typing "anonymous", if prompted for a password, try either pressing [ENTER], typing your log-in name, or typing "FTP". Each computer site is set-up differently, and it is often takes the trial-and-error approach to find the right combination to gain access.
Once you get onto the remote computer, your prompt should be "ftp>". Now the remote computer acts as though you were logged onto it by a direct terminal access. You can change directories (cd), do a directory listing (dir), and "get" or "put" files. (Remember anything that you download does to your internet server connection, you will have to move it from there to your personal PC.) To finish the ftp session, type "bye".
When a directory listing is done, the results can look pretty confusing. Here is a list of hints listed in The Internet Business Book, 1994 to help you navigate around the remote site:
* A line that begins with [d]
this item is another directory
* A line that begins with [-]
this item is file that can be downloaded
* A number located in front of the date
shows the size of the file
* A name at the end of the line
tells the name of the file or subdirectory
Most of the files that will be available to you will be located in
the "pub" directory. Be sure to read the "read me"
or the "help" files located on these anonymous FTP servers.
Also be courteous about obeying time restrictions and remaining within
the areas set aside for outside users. These sites are set up for public
use, but if they get abused they can be removed by their owners.
Similar to FTP, Telnet is another part of the TCP/IP protocols. It also allows you to login on remote computers as if your terminal was directly connected to that host. Telnet is commonly used to provide the same Internet service that you would get if you dialed in to the computer via modem.
Once you have telnetted to another computer, you then have access to databases, search tools, and files that your system does not contain. In order to telnet to another computer your service and the other computer's service must both have the Telnet software installed. You will also need an account on the remote computer or use public access Telnet sites. Telnet can be used when these two items are known:
To activate Telnet, at the prompt type "telnet {site's address}". After typing the appropriate login name, the Telnet software becomes invisible to the user. Your computer becomes a virtual terminal to the remote computer allowing you to navigate the remote site in the usual manner. Most Telnet sites are menu based so navigating them is intuitive.
Documents which are presented in the HTML format (like this one) give the viewer an easy, intuitive way to interact with the Web. HTML links are designated by being highlighted, and can be chosen by simply pointing and clicking with a mouse or navigating the screen with the arrow keys. These links connect items within documents, within web sites, or to other computers, or call upon other Internet resources. HTML links allow a user to access anything or go anywhere within the Internet without having to learn a whole other language of commands.
Lynx
Lynx is the most used Web browser to date. It allows the user to view text within documents. Moving around with Lynx is quick and easy. To run this program, type "lynx" at the prompt. To go to a desired location, press the [ G ] key to display the URL prompt.
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator and is a short, consistent way to name any resource on the Internet. When you get this prompt, you type in an address. An address looks like: HTTP://WWW.BTON.AC.UK. The first part tells what kind of link you will be connecting to: HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), GOPHER, or FTP. The name after the " // " is the host name where the address is located. The rest of the address is resource name on the host.
NetScape & Mosaic
Both of these browsers require the use of Windows. Links are shown by being a different color and by being underlined. The link typically changes colors once it has been chosen to designate that they have already been chosen by you during this session. This is extremely useful as it helps remind you which paths you have already traveled before you unwittingly take it again. These browsers also allow "surfers" to view graphics as well as straight text. After the novelty of having pictures all over your screen wears off, many people turn the picture viewer off. Files transfer a lot quicker without the extra packages of data that images require.
Since NetScape and Mosaic are Windows applications, all of the usual options and point and click capabilities exist. Therefore no further time will be spent on explaining navigating the Web via these browsers.
What are you really searching?
Finding the Web documents (a.k.a. Web "pages" or "sites") you want can be easy or seem impossibly difficult. This is in part due to the sheer size of the WWW, currently estimated to contain over 50 million documents. It is also because the WWW is not indexed in any standard vocabulary (unlike a library's catalogs which assign Library of Congress or some other widely accepted standardized subject descriptors to their documents, or a journal-article index which uses its standardized subject descriptors). In searching the WWW, you are searching text in documents selected for inclusion in the particular search tool database you are using. The success of your searches depends on three factors:
You may have to think of variants, synonyms, and related themes to find what you want. If you search on commonly used words, you may get irrelevant documents containing your words but not your subject.
Most experienced Web searchers use at least two or three different search tools regularly, and have mastered their features. It is wise to check more than one search tool for any topic, because search results vary widely from one to another.
Search Tools find documents matching your interests. Each search tool operates on its database of URLs, texts, and descriptions selected from the entirety of the World Wide Web. When you search a search engine, you search the contents of its database -- not the World Wide Web directly. Since none of these databases includes all the WWW pages in existence, you get different results from different search tools. Other reasons search results vary include differences in the features of each database. Most of these features are summarized and described below.
ALL search tools provide hypertext links which permit you to retrieve Web documents found through a search of the tool's database. A search results in list of documents matching your search. When you click on the link representing one of these documents, you "go out on" the Web (in fact, you retrieve into your computer a document from some site on the WWW outside the database of the search engine). Up to this point you are working within the search tool's database.
Search Engine databases are most frequently built by "robots" - computer programs that roam the WWW finding sites new to their home database, updating old ones, and deleting obsolete ones. The discoveries of these robots are then integrated into the home database. Some Web search databases are maintained with little human evaluation. In others, sites are hand-picked and evaluated or reviewed. Some offer a combination of these approaches.
Every search tool is different. They vary in features and size/comprehensiveness. The most important features in selecting a search tool are those which allow you to refine or focus your search when you need to. If you want comprehensiveness, you want large databases. If you want help sorting out "the best" pages on an extensively covered topic, you may profit from the selectivity of some of the smaller, hand-picked databases.
The universe of WWW search tools falls into two large categories:
For comprehensiveness, you must use keyword search tools. However, subject directories are valuable for their smaller size of hand-picked, usually "good" sites. For topics with vast quantities of information on the WWW, beginning in a Subject Directory often helps sort out meritorious sites from those that may mention your topic without in-depth treatment.